$16 Billion Facebook IPO Set for $38 Per Share

As had been expected, Facebook will debut on the Nasdaq tomorrow at a price of $38 per share. What's that mean for you? Not much. What's that mean for Mark Zuckerberg and Co.?

Sixteen billion dollars. That's around 10 billion sterling.

That £25 per share comes at the upper end of the range the SEC would have allowed Facebook to open with, and values the company at around £66 billion. Which might seem pretty aggressive considering the company pulled in revenues (not profits!) of £2.4 billion last year. And it is! It is a very aggressive valuation of a company that hasn't yet proven that it can actually convert its 900 million users into great big piles of money.

It's hard to blame Facebook and its bankers for being optimistic, though; this is one of the most high-profile tech IPOs since forever, and fond memories of the 2004 Google cash volcano have been haunting investors ever since FB reserved a listing spot. And my how current shareholders will profit! Zuck alone will be selling off about £800 million worth of shares, after which his stake in the company will be worth a mere £12 billion. [CNBC]